| Director | Adrienne Shelly |
|---|---|
| Budget | $1.5 million |
| Box office | $22 million |
Waitress Jenna Hunterson lives in the American South, trapped in an unhappy marriage with her controlling and abusive husband, Earl. She works in Joe's Pie Diner, where her job includes creating inventive pies with titles inspired by her life, such as the "Bad Baby Pie" she invents after her unintended pregnancy is confirmed. Jenna longs to run away from her marriage and is slowly accumulating money to do so. She pins her hopes for escape on a pie contest in a nearby town, which offers a $25,000 grand prize. However, her husband will not let her go. Jenna's only friends are co-workers Becky and Dawn, and Joe, the owner of the diner and other businesses, who is a regular customer of Jenna's.
Jenna's life changes after she meets her new obstetrician, Jim Pomatter. He has moved to that town to accommodate his wife, who is completing her residency at the local hospital, and is filling in for the woman who has been Jenna's doctor since childhood. The two are attracted to each other, and over the course of several prenatal appointments the attraction grows. The two eventually initiate an affair.
Prompted by her co-workers' gift of a baby journal, Jenna begins to keep a diary, ostensibly as letters to her unborn child, revealing her inner thoughts and plans. Upon learning she is pregnant, Earl demands Jenna promise never to love the baby more than him. Jenna also bonds with her manager, Cal the cook, when she fearfully informs him of her pregnancy, only to discover he already knows and always planned to keep her employed.
At Dawn's wedding at the diner, Earl interrupts the celebration and demands Jenna leave at once. Earl drives Jenna home and confronts her, having found Jenna's stashes of cash throughout the house. Reluctantly, Jenna says that the money was for the baby, which forces her to spend it to conceal its true purpose. Distraught, she flees to Dr. Pomatter. As they fantasize about running away together, Jenna's water breaks.
At the hospital, Jenna discovers Joe is also a patient undergoing an elective procedure; he hands her an envelope with instructions not to open it until after the baby is born. Much to her dismay, she is also greeted by Dr. Pomatter's wife, who is rounding with other residents. Jenna then begs Dr. Pomatter to administer as many drugs as possible so she will not feel a thing.
Jenna gives birth to a baby girl. When she holds her newborn for the first time, Jenna's ambivalence melts into a full-blown bond with her daughter, whom she names Lulu. Earl, disappointed that it is a girl, reminds Jenna of her coerced promise not to love the baby more than she does him. Jenna says she has not loved him in years, will no longer put up with his abuse, and will not let Lulu grow up with his mistreating her, and wants a divorce. Enraged, Earl attempts to assault Jenna, but is escorted out of the hospital by security staff.
Later, as Jenna prepares to leave the hospital, due to Earl refusing to pay her medical bills as retaliation for being kicked out, Becky and Dawn inform her Joe collapsed into a coma during his procedure. Jenna then remembers Joe's envelope. In it, she finds a card with a sketch of her, inscribed "To my only friend, start fresh", along with a cheque for $270,450.
While leaving the hospital, Dr. Pomatter asks her about their future. She decides to end their relationship, informing him of the enormous trust she sensed from his wife. She then hands him a chocolate Moon Pie and asks her friends to wheel her out. Jenna later wins the contest, and turns the diner into a new restaurant named "Lulu's Pies", and she and Lulu walk home happily.